Review Your Career During the Holidays

As we approach the holiday season and the end of 2013, it is a good time for every professional to pause, review and outline their accomplishments of the past year.  I make this recommendation because you never know when a new and exciting opportunity may be presented.  Often the call arrives during a time when it is impossible to focus on developing a presentation of your successes that truly merchandises your strengths and accomplishments.

The secret to successfully presenting you as a candidate starts with a better:

1. Resume
2. Digital Portfolio
3. On-Line Profile

 Each of these elements should:

1. Include your education, leadership experiences, quantifiable accomplishments, professional certifications, technical knowledge and the benefits they will receive by selecting you.
2. Be simple and concise – Remove the “fluff” and limit the personality traits.
3. Appeal to the “Eye” by reducing the clutter (excessive text will turn readers away)
4. Use bold or italics to highlight important points
5. Edit and Re-Edit – spelling and grammatical errors (don’t trust spell check) tarnish credibility and professionalism.

 Time spent over the holidays developing your professional profile will not only document your professional accomplishments and compile samples of your work but better prepare you to explore opportunities as they develop.